Road to Life
by garryp
Summary: Life is like a camera. Focus on what's important and you'll capture it perfectly. Make memories and keep them inside your pockets. We are never alone.


**It's been long since I posted a story here. But, here I am. This is my contribution to Yuri! on Ice fandom. Take my offering! ^-^**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Yuri! on Ice.**

"How long?"

"Just a couple of hours more."

"It's been only 30 minutes since we left St. Petersburg." Yuri said in a matter-of-factually tone. "It's not just a couple of hours journey from here. I checked it on the internet." Victor smiled at his tech-savvy fiancé. "Why are we going there, Victor?"

"I visit it every year, hmm… for old times' sake." Victor smiled lightly.

Yuri sighed and looked outside the car's window. The roads were so lonely with no life in the sight. The only living entity he can see around himself was Victor, but he too looked different that day. He stared hard at him with hopes of finding whatever was amiss but to no avail. He puffed and leaned forward. They were supposed to go on shopping for their wedding rings that week but the plans changed. It was that time of year when Victor would go on a nostalgia trip, down to the Lake Ladoga. He has been going solo there for past five years. But, it was only yesterday when Yuri got to know about his plans.

 **~Flashback~**

"Vitya, aren't you going to Ladoga this time?" asked Yakov.

"Oh, yeah." Victor feigned, trying to avoid the topic. "I nearly forgot about it."

"Ladoga?" Yuri asked.

"It's one of the greatest lakes in Russia." Yakov replied. "You should take Yuri with you this time, Vitya. He should get to know more about our places and culture."

"I don't think that will be a god idea." Victor hesitated. "It takes long to reach there and the lake is very cold during this time of the year. Yuri might catch a cold."

"I am coming with you, Victor." Yuri said authoritatively. "I will be fine."

 **~Flashback - End~**

 _Fine, my ass!_ Yuri cursed himself. He missed the warmth of his blanket miserably. _What was I thinking? I shouldn't act on whims._ Yuri thought grudgingly. _I am too stubborn for my own good. Things I do for love!_ He sighed heavily.

"Are you okay, Yuri?" Victor looked at Yuri with worried expression over his face. "You have been sighing a lot."

"I am okay." Yuri shook his head. "It's just that I am tired of sitting so long."

The roads twirled and slithered like snakes. They kept narrowing down, engulfing them in, widening out. Yuri enjoyed watching how they were running away from the trees that were standing far away from the roads. _Why don't you come with us?_ Sun kept playing hide and seek with them, hiding behind the tiny cloud and peeping from there. He smiled impulsively and looked back at Victor to say something. The platinum-haired man was looking at the roads with stern eyes. Yuri turned around and shook his head. _Something is wrong with him and he's not telling me. Did he not want me to come with him?_ He looked back at the Sun. _Just come out of those clouds, stupid!_ He slid the windows down and put his head out in the wind.

"Yuri!" Victor panicked. "It's cold outside."

Chilly breezes hit Yuri's face but he cared less. He liked the feel of ice cold air on his face. The wind played with his hair, Yuri was taken back to the skating rink back at his home. Oh, the feel of tiny ice flakes on his face when he swirled around and did jumps! He could feel the familiarity in his surroundings in that alien land. Maybe, what they say is true. You are never away from home.

"Victor, can we take some pictures there?" Yuri turned around and looked at Victor.

"Yeah." Victor replied nonchalantly. "But, the place where we are headed to isn't that picturesque."

Yuri pouted and pushed his glasses back on his head. "I feel sleepy. Wake me up when we reach there." He put his legs on the seat and rested back.

It'd been more than six hours since he had been driving. Victor kept stealing glances at his asleep fiancé. He smiled looking at his fiance's sleeping face. _I wish Yuri hadn't come this far for me._ Yuri shivered a little in his sleep. Victor frowned and closed the window at Yuri's side. _He gets too adamant. Sometimes, I just don't understand him._

"Are we there yet?" Yuri mumbled in his sleep.

"Yes. I can see the lake waters from here." Victor replied.

"Finally!" Yuri stretched in his seat and put his glasses back. "Yeah, I can see the water." Victor drove down from the road and parked the car under a huge tree.

"Are we getting down here?" Yuri asked in surprise. Victor nodded affirmatively. "But, that lake looks too far." Yuri got nervous on the thoughts of walking up to the lake.

"I know a shortcut." Victor got down from the car. "Let's go."

"Short cut?"

Victor led the way and Yuri followed him having a great doubt on his fiance's navigational skills but he kept it quiet. They tramped over the rocks crushing the dried leaves and diseased twigs on their way. There was no path to be seen but somehow, the way Victor was leading him, Yuri could sense the road that had been once lost and remained untrodden in that hidden part of the wilderness. They kept climbing up. The trek was tiring Yuri out, he stopped to fill some air in his lungs. He breathed heavily and wiped the sweat forming on his forehead. He felt something moving behind the bushes near him. He walked closer to the bushes to check. Something popped out from there and jumped over Yuri.

"Victor, save me!" Yuri screamed. "I am dying. Save me!"

"It's just a rabbit, Yuri." Victor laughed. Yuri opened his eyes and saw the tiny rabbit sitting on his lap who scared the lights out of him. "Rabbit?!" Yuri grumbled. Victor ruffled Yuri's hair and pulled him up. "Come. We are just there."

Braving their way through the dense forest, they finally reached an open area. "Here!" Victor exhaled. He grabbed Yuri's hand and took him to the edge of the cliff. "So, what do you think?"

"It's pretty normal."

"I told you that this place isn't that scenic." Victor scratched the back of his head.

"Victor, look!" Yuri pointed at the lake. "Can you see it? Can you see it? What is that?"

"It's just a mirage. Many such mirages cover the water's surface occasionally." Victor told. "This is the best place to view them."

"It's gorgeous."

"My friends and I discovered this place when we were kids. We used to come with our parents here. One day, we decided to go on a boys-only trip." Victor reminisced. "It was a six-days plan… we would go for boating, hiking, fishing, skinny diving. We were so young." Victor looked at the lake. "But, I couldn't join them. I had to participate in the junior grand prix of figure skating and I couldn't miss it." Yuri could see the sadness in Victor's eyes. "They came here without me. They had so much fun."

"But, I won my first gold in that competition." Victor faked a smile. "So, it wasn't all in vain, I guess."

"Your friends would be very proud of you." Yuri said. "You must have planned another trip with them, right?"

"No." Victor put his hands inside the pockets of his coat. "We got busy with our lives. I never heard back from them since then." Victor could feel a growing pain in his chest. "So many good memories are attached to this place. I regret not going with them." He continued. "I was planning not to come here from next year. I should leave this one bad memory behind my back because now, I have something better to look forward to." Victor looked at Yuri, his smile so pretty that could light up the million skies. The Sun was setting down behind his back.

Yuri pulled him down and gave a light peck on his forehead. Victor looked at him surprisingly. "Let's make good memories here." Yuri said affectionately. He tightened his grip around his fiancé's arm. "We'll come here next year and next to next year, and then, every year." Victor's face beamed up.

Victor looked at the vast horizon. The sun melted into the lake biding him goodbye, giving their skies a warm soft glow.

 **Epilogue:**

"What a waste! The pictures look so dull." Yuuri scrolled through Yuri's phone gallery.

"But, we made good memories there." Victor pulled his fiancé in his arms and they snuggled a little closer.

"Pervert!" shouted Yuri, leaving the room. "You make me wanna puke. Get a room, both of you!" He slammed the door hard.

Yuri and Victor stood there, dumbfounded.

 **Author's note:**

 **I wanted to write something more angsty but while writing, I kept it low and controlled my hands. I love this series and Yuuri Plisetsky is my fav in this series. This is one-shot fic but, it can be turned into two-shot, I think. But, it's good like this, right? Let me know your thoughts on this.**

 **I really wanted to make it more angsty. Sigh!**


End file.
